B.C. Attractive to Mining. But There Are Challenges
By 250 News
Thursday, January 17, 2008 11:57 AM
Prince George, B.C. - Not since 1990 has there been a level of mining exploration in B.C. that could come close to the level being seen today.
With a 233 % increase in the price of gold over the past 6 years ($263in ’01 to current price of $ 877) there is no surprise that there is an increased interest in finding minerals.
Especially copper, says Association of Mining Exploration BC President, Robert Pease. “Copper is used in every part of our lives, and as the boom in China continues, the demand for copper increases, that is what is driving the prices.” Pease says the collapse of the American housing market is “a drop in the bucket compared to the world demand for copper.” There has been a significant drop in copper reserves world wide, (down 63%) and that bodes well for the demand for a project like Mount Milligan which would provide 1.5 billion pounds of copper.
B.C. is attractive to mining because of the great geology, the infrastructure, (roads, rail and ports) and the support of the provincial government.
The mine permitting process is not a clear road, says Pease, there are challenges, including :
- Mining permitting, Pease says there needs to be a streamlining of Federal and Provincial processes
- There is a need to provide more benefits for First Nations Communities,
- There is a labour shortage. Up to 100 thousand workers needed over the next ten years across Canada as 50% of those in the mining industry will retire in the next ten years.
- Pease says there has to be resources revenue sharing with First Nations that would add certainty to the industry
- Access to land in B.C. is a key issue “tell us the places we can’t explore, tell us the places we can”
- First Nations Land title issues
Pease is very optimistic and very encouraged about the future “We see a continuing demand for metals, and the prices for metals will remain strong for some time into the future.”
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Posted by: northman on January 17 2008 2:31 PM
The permitting process for new mines in general is far to complicated and it doesn't have to be.
Enviromental studies also take much too long, and not suprisingly,much of that time is because of needless redtape and government foot dragging to appease the tree huggers and anti-mining groups.
As in... (pssst..don't piss the bunny huggers off,they might not vote for us!!)
In spite of what we are told by our leaders,B.C.is NOT mining friendly, and at a time when our forest industry is tanking,we need solid leadership and foresight from both the federal and the provincial government.
It will be interesting to see how they handle this issue over the next couple of years.
If the conditions for permitting have been met,and the working plan is enviromentally sound,then why not?
We all want to see enviromentally responsible mining, and in this day and age,that isn't hard to achieve.
Discouraging mining simply because a particular group doesn't like it, is not a good reason for not granting a permit.
If this is the game our federal and provincial governments insist on playing for the sake of votes, then we have the wrong government!
Instead of making it so difficult for potential mining prospects,they should in fact be working with mining companies to find positive solutions to bring these new mines online in a timely manner.
We cannot keep sacrificing the welfare of so many to satisfy the needs of a few!
We have a couple of potential mines in the north looking for approval in the very near future and our economy needs them badly.
Hopefully,our government will wake up to that fact,because I really don't think people are going to tolerate this constant negativity directed towards the mining industry in this province for much longer!